A thin crust German style pizza covered with a layer of fresh thick cream, crispy lardons (bacon), thinly sliced sweet onions and melted cheese.
Flammkuchen is one of those recipes that is a familiar yet unfamiliar taste all at the same time. Although it is nicknamed “German pizza” it is not really what some would consider as traditionally pizza in the sense that it is made with crème fraîche (essentially sour cream) instead of marinara sauce.
For my version of this recipe, I make my own creamy combo of labne (kind of like a yogurt cheese) and a bit of strained yogurt. This combination makes for a delightfully subtly tangy taste that balances the rich bacon, sweet onions and salty cheese.
Flammkuchen originates from the south of Germany and northeast France, thus why it is also known as Tarte Flambée. Traditionally it would have been prepared in a wood burning oven that makes the thin crust nice and crispy along the edges. I find that a really hot oven works just as well as long as you are cautious enough to not let it bake too long.
Here’s my recipe:
Flammkuchen (Tarte Flambée)
- 1 pizza dough (pre-prepared from scratch or storebought)
- 1-2 TBSP all purpose flour (for dusting & rolling out the dough)
- 1/3 c labne
- 2 TBSP thick strained yogurt
- 1 cup shredded cheese (not traditional to use cheese at all but I used mozzerella)
- 3 heaping TBSP lardons or bacon pre-cut into small cubes
- 1 small onion (thinly sliced)
- salt (to taste)
Preparation:
Pre-heat the oven to 250C/482F (or as hot as your oven can get).
Place the lardons or cubed bacon into a small frying pan and allow them to cook for a fw minutes (stirring frequently) until they are browned and crispy. Drain and remove from the heat. (Tip: keep the bacon fat! It might sound crazy but it is good to have on hand. My mom always kept some in a mug in the fridge for whenever she needed it. She’s a genius, I know:)
Dust a clean countertop and a rolling pin with flour and roll out the dough into a large thin rectangular shape.
Then fold the dough like a package and carefully transfer it onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Alternatively, you could roll out the dough directly on the parchment paper.
Mix together the labne and the yogurt until smooth and then using a spatula, spread it over the dough in a nice and even layer.
Then sprinkle over the lardons (try not to eat them, lol!), onions and cheese.
Season with salt to taste and place the Flammkuchen in the oven to bake for 7 minutes or so (depending on how hot your oven really goes).
Then remove from the oven, transfer onto a large cutting board, cut into generous squares and serve immediately.
Guten Appetit!
*My tip: keep some extra ingredients handy because Flammkuchen tends to get eaten up pretty quickly.
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